misplaced ad

Hi all see this. On one hand we speak of child obesity and doctors are constantly advising mothers to put a check on their children's diet, on the other hand the food manufacturers are overtly defiant of this . Great! What a show. Can be a great example of misplaced ads. When will we learn ?

NEED OF THE HOUR—SAVE INDIA

Did you hear the news? The CBI ( Central Bureau of Investigation) has recently unearthed a series of scams in AICTE( All India Council of Technical Education) , the Medical Council of India; and the Railway Recruitment  Board examinations.

Well the bells of alarm are ringing loud and clear. Fiddling with a country’s core development sectors –Health, Education and Transport is no joke. People it seems have taken everything for granted. Some of the reasons they have cited are –the insistence of state governments on state-level recruitment process, rampant cheating and under table dealings in professional examinations, political influence and quite obviously misconduct and fraudulent activities in regulatory agencies. The report says that even army is not free. Widespread corruption in the recruitment process; illegal approvals to institutions, and hospitals, are some of the  very common modus operandi.

To speak the truth, carrying out research and survey is not enough. Merely performing a customary check up  and publishing them will only raise a few eyebrows, but wont shake us from the deep slumber, a feel-good feeling – “ that all is well “ we are all in. It has become imperative and as the situation demands , to nip in the bud. The report provides only a glimpse of the problem that plagues our society, starting from the grassroots level. One who is recruited through corrupt processes, rises high in the job by resorting to all sorts of crooked means  and he keeps this tradition in continuum by handing over the baton to his juniors. No doubt the government offices are now filled with dishonest officials who with their lackadaisical attitude are tainting the image  of the country.  These corrupted bugs in the government chairs have severely affected the development of the country, as they have barred talented, meritorious and deserving fresher’s from getting recruited.

The backbone of a society and thus the whole country depends on the development of education, communication safety and security, and health. If these sectors become the puppets of the corrupt and undeserving officials , it can be well imagined that the doomsday is not far away. Most frightening fact is that the monitoring authorities are themselves involved in this affair.

So WHAT IS THE NEED OF THE HOUR? A multi-level checking so as to prevent any misconduct; a very strict monitoring system; very strict appraisal system for the government employees based on performance; strict punishment for all those who are corrupt; proper information flow for the citizens, as to where to go incase he/she feels that he is being harassed to pay bribe; an aware and conscious citizen who wakes up to the long term consequences  of corruption, has the gut feeling to say “NO” to corruption, and an equally cooperative government; more administrative and judicial power to ACB( Anti-Corruption Bureau), as many a times the state governments refuses permission  to prosecute top government officials , thus tacitly supporting corruption. Therefore ACB becomes mostly restricted to investigate disproportional assets  cases and making surprise checks. It should not merely remain a paper tiger. And yes the media , last but not least ,should play a more responsible and constructive role.

The Brand Gap

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The Brand Gap

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KOLKATA--THE FUTURE TELECOM CORRIDOR OF INDIA

Well as of now , Kolkata is yet to achieve this goal . It has to go a long way to be in the league of the branded cities and their renowned epithets. Just as Bangalore is famously known as the silicon valley , and Hyderabad –the genome valley, can Kolkata be left far behind , specially with such a huge ambition. Kolkata has undergone a metamorphosis ; from a cultural hub to a telecom major, it had undertaken a series of initiatives in salience with the yet to achieve brand image.

The already existing major players in the telecom industry –BSNL, Airtel, Vodafone, Aircel, smart, reliance, are vying for the consumers ears. To add to the woe, recently Tata Docomo, idea and MTS, too launched their telecom services in Kolkata.

Well in a market that is already cluttered with so many operators , nearly confusing the consumers, the operators should feel the need of their subscribers , by focusing strongly on network connection, coverage and service offerings both on quality and price aspect and most important of all providing the consumers a customized approach.

Tata Docomo , to consider a case , announced a novel, “ pay –for-what –you-use” model for subscribers in Kolkata, with a pulse of one second and a pricing of just one paisa per second. According to Ratan Tata , Chairman , Tata Sons, - “ the value proposition offered by Tata Docomo is a unique and a revolutionary idea which symbolizes the spirit of innovation an inventive genius.”. he feels the launch of pay-per –use, pay-per-second concept will create a paradigm shift in the overall telecom experience for the customer and provide a service that is refreshingly different.

While the government is planning to come up with tax incentives for the telecom segment, TiE(The Industry Entrepreneurs), a non-profit organization along with the state of West Bengal is taking initiatives to promote Kolkata as a possible destination for telecom entrepreneurs.

Industry sources say that TiE’s big idea is to try and create domain-specific expertise in the telecom segment. To do this, TiE is initially looking at the possibility of setting up a telecom centre of excellence at Kolkata to provide infrastructure and trained manpower for the telecom sector.

The centre of excellence will provide the required infrastructure for software testing as well as ready manpower.. it will also talk with major telecom players of the country to set up the centre of excellence and the initial response is quite encouraging. The centre of excellence will serve the needs of Indian telecom software as well as service companies, who are handicapped by the absence of a proper testing centre and paucity of trained manpower

The second stage will be to brand the city on the lines of Bangalore and Hyderabad. For this, TiE is providing inputs to the consultants McKinsey, to create a road-map for the IT segment..

The brave step that has been taken by TiE, is a good news indeed , and only time can say whether kolkata too will be in the league of the high profile branded cities.

ITS ALL ABOUT “OM SHANTI OM”….

A brief hiatus and I am back. Durgapuja and Kali puja.. a month long celebration in West Bengal.. the biggest festival ever for the Bengalis. As I went pandal hopping from one part of the city to the other , with huge lights glaring and sound blazing, crowds moving in herds, I was amazed at the huge transition that these pujas had gone through. From the ‘parar pujo’ ( neighborhood puja) to totally a corporate sponsored puja with a particular theme in the perspective…the Bengal pujas have seen them all.

While wandering through my memory lanes it reminded me of Renuka Chowdhury..the India’s tourism minister , when she immediately after taking charge of her new assignment , announced before a group of reporters .”.I want to open up unconventional avenues, like religious tourism, not in one part of India , but all over the country.”

India has emerged as one of the lucrative market for religious tourism. A study by the Delhi based National Council for Applied Economic Research( NCAER), shows that out of the 230 million tourist trips undertaken in India, the largest proportion is made up of religious pilgrimage. India has increasingly become a religious hub in the S-East Asia , with its diverse religion and cultures . For instance as many as 23 million people visited Tirupati, a temple town near southern India devoted to Lord Balaji. Tirupati’s annual list of pilgrims is higher than the total no of travelers visiting Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore and Kolkata put together.

Realizing its huge untapped potential , various religious trusts, state and central governments , have beefed up their managerial skills along with the blending of world class infrastructure. Travel masti a travel portal provides religious packages to tourists which covers as many as 23 destinations across India. Golden temple at Amritsar, the Tirupati temple offers online booking for accommodation and security to their pilgrims around the temple complex. Japan’s Nikko hotels has lined up with a series of hotels along the Buddhist circuit in east India. India’s railway tourism corporation runs a special package tour , while India’s only helicopter ferry service , Pawan Hans; runs a helicopter service right up to the temple. Another hot religious spot among the pilgrims is Orissa, where the state government has upgraded the condition of the roads. The temple managements are becoming more and more pilgrim friendly. From a data by NCAER, it gives an idea about the religious traffic in India.

• Tirupati ------- 23 million.

• Puri-------18.17 million.

• Vaishno Devi------17.25 million.

• Hardwar…….11.04 million.

• Naina Devi------8.28 million.

• Mathura-----8.28 million.

• Ajmer Sharif-----8.22 million.

• Amritsar-----7.13 million.

• Shirdi( W.India)------6.21million.

• Badrinath and Kedarnath-----4.1 million.

Well considering the splurge of devotees we can safely say that all of us..from the pilgrims to the businessman.. the whole hulla is about an intangible concept…OM SHANTI OM.

WAKE UP INDIA …WE ARE STILL SLEEPING.

Yugratna Srivastav , a 13 year old girl from Lucknow addressed the UNITED NATIONS Climate change summit in New York. Her speech won accolades from the world leaders including UN General Secretary Ban Ki Moon and American Environmental activist and Nobel peace prize winner Al Gore.

Everyday, everybody speaks of environmental pollution. But how many of us are really doing something for it. India with its myriad cultures and heritage has been a global leader in spirituality and hospitality ; embracing millions in its warmthness and vibrant hues. Now India Inc is an international brand in the making, with a huge untapped potential amongst the youth and the children , who are not only intelligent but are also very much discerning about the various issues plaguing the society-environmental concern being one of them. Egs set forth like Yugratna expose our reluctant attitude towards this grave issue. Yugratna was first touched when she was in class 6, which prompted her to join a NGO called Tarumitra ( friends of the tress) and work passionately propagating her objective. Her passion made her the first indian child to get elected in the junior board of UNEP ( UNITED NATIONS ENVIRONMENT PROGRAMME) .

So when Infosys Chairman and Chief Mentor Narayan Murthy comments that India is guided more by slogans than action and to be a global leader it has to first shed off its bureaucratic attitude, Yugratna set a fine example where actions speak larger than words. We should all stand by her when she says that serious climate change issues like global warming, scarcity of food and water , outbreak of accentuated epidemics –the young generation of this century has witnessed it all and it is time the world leaders recognize the underlying energy and enthusiasm of these young heroes and channelize them in the right direction. It should be the responsibility of all of us by way of little actions that we can make this world a better place to live.